No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars (Gluten Free + Vegan)
You only need FIVE ingredients to make these No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars! These gluten-free and vegan bars are sure to satisfy your chocolate peanut butter cravings.
Have you ever had a Scotcharoo? They were never a staple in my family, but I remember all of my friends making them when I was a kid, and helping my friends make them during sleepovers we were preteens. They were sooo good, but so unhealthy. Even my preteen-self knew that much.
They’re essentially a combo of corn syrup, white sugar, peanut butter, rice crispy cereal, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips. Sounds healthy, right?
Recently, I was talking about Scotcharoos with Jesse and asked if he had ever had one. He hadn’t, and I realized this was a perfect opportunity for me to take an old fave and make it a little more guiltless. Don’t worry – there’s not a drop of corn syrup in sight here!
These No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars are a healthier version of the old fave, and they’re made SO simply – just five ingredients needed! They can be on your table within 45 minutes to an hour of when you start…and most of that is just time waiting for them to set up.
Let make No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars!
To make the crispy, peanut buttery base, you’ll need puffed rice cereal, peanut butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil. A little salt too, if your peanut butter is unsalted. I used gluten-free puffed brown rice cereal. If you’re gluten-free, make sure you seek out a gluten-free puffed rice cereal if that’s a necessity for you.
If you’re not a peanut butter person, you can totally use another nut butter here too! Almond butter or cashew butter would be delicious. Honey could also probably substitute for the maple syrup – I haven’t tried it though, so no guarantees. I wouldn’t switch out the coconut oil for another oil though since it helps the bars firm up and hold together.
You’ll boil the liquid ingredients together for a few minutes. Then, you mix them up with the crispy rice cereal to form the base. After you press into the pan and leave that to set, you’ll met the dark chocolate and peanut butter together and then slather it all over the top.
To garnish, I topped with chopped roasted peanuts and flaky sea salt. If you’ve been around here for a minute, you know I LOVE a bit of flaky sea salt on top of my desserts, especially the chocolate ones. If you’re not into it though, skip it – no harm, no foul.
I brought these no-bake chocolate peanut butter crispy bars over to my aunt’s house when we were celebrating my cousin’s birthday. They were half-devoured before we even cut the cake! Safe to say, they were a hit. The crispy peanut butter base is crunchy perfection. The chocolate stays super smooth and ganache-like thanks to the peanut butter in there.
These are heaven for me and my fellow chocolate peanut butter lovers! If you’re one of us, I certainly hope you’ll give these a try :) enjoy!
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars are crunchy peanut butter perfection, and you only need FIVE ingredients to make them! These gluten-free and vegan crispy bars are sure to satisfy your chocolate peanut butter cravings.
Ingredients
- 2½ cups gluten-free puffed brown rice cereal
- ½ cup (128g) peanut butter
- ⅓ cup (107g) maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt optional – use if your peanut butter is unsalted
For the chocolate topping
- 6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
Optional garnish
- ¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line an 8×8” square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Place the puffed brown rice cereal in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small saucepan, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, and salt if using, over medium-low heat. Whisk to incorporate and melt the coconut oil, and then bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and let bubble for 3 minutes, whisking the whole time.
- After 3 minutes, remove from the heat and pour over the brown rice cereal. Stir to combine completely, making sure to coat all of the cereal.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hand or a spatula to press the bars down firmly. Set aside to let them firm up.
- While the bars firm up, place the chopped dark chocolate and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 seconds increments, stirring between each, until it’s smooth and melted.
- Spread the chocolate over the peanut butter crispy bars. If using, garnish with peanuts and flaky sea salt.
- Let firm up in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cutting into 16 squares. Store in the refrigerator.
I LOVE SCOTCHAROOS. I am so excited to make these!!!! These are my little brother’s very favorite treat in the world.
Yayyy I hope you adore them Lucia!!
Hi!
Will definitely try this one at home but I need a nut free alternative… do you think this could be made (and still taste good) with sunflower seeds butter or any other seed butter like maybe sesame!?
Need to make nut free desserts for school…
Thank you!
Hi Sabrina, yes I’d go with sunflower seed butter instead of tahini, as sometimes tahini can be bitter. Enjoy!! :)
Anything with peanut butter sounds pretty amazing to me :) Also, your photos are fantastic! Do you have any tips for taking pictures?
My blog: https://healthybakingwithacupofocd.wordpress.com/
Thank you so much!! And my best advice is to learn your camera settings, shoot on manual, and practice, practice, practice! :)
I’m from the North East, so I didn’t grow up eating Scotcharoos, but they sound so yummy. I mean, what’s not to love about chocolate and peanut butter together! I love the way you’ve swapped in maple syrup.
Thanks so much Katie! They’re definitely a healthier version of the original. I hope you’ll give them a try!
Looks delicious, what brand of peanut butter did you use? Thanks,
I always use peanut butter with just one ingredient: peanuts. It’s usually Crazy Richard’s or Organic Creamy from Trader Joe’s.
I grew up in Iowa and we always had scotcharoos for a sweet treat! Your healthier version sounds amazing.
I hope you’ll give them a try, and that they bring back some good memories :) thanks Celia!
Made these with my kids on a snowy day, easy and yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★
So glad you and your kids are enjoying them! Thanks for the feedback.
These are so good Rachel! I love how easy they are too. The dark chocolate pb layer is definitely my favorite part :)
★★★★★
These are DELISH but I think I used the wrong kind of puffed brown rice cereal because mine aren’t crunchy or crispy. They aren’t quite soggy but they are soft. I used Arrowhead Mills brand puffed brown rice cereal. Which brand so you recommend for crispy bars? Thanks!
Hi LJ, sorry you had trouble with it being crunchy! I tested these with One Degree Organics Brown Rice cereal and with Nature’s Path and it worked well with both of those.
Wow! these are an amazing little treat that I’ve added to my self care practice ;) Nice work!
★★★★★
So glad you’re enjoying them! Thanks for the love Carley :)
Hi
How long do these last in the fridge?
Thanks
★★★★★
They’re best the first two days – then they’re still good, but the crispy cereal starts to soften. Enjoy!
These were so easy and delicious. I made them for a party and they were a hit. Will definitely make these again.
★★★★★
So thrilled the bars were a hit, Mary! Thanks for the feedback :)
This looks amazing!! Would this not hold together in room temp? I am planning to wrap them individually to give out as presents on events and wondering if it would still be nice and presentable then!
Hi Hazel, they might get a little soft and crumbly if at room temperature for too long, but wrapping individually will likely help them hold together! Should be fine for a few hours :)
I have been making those twice already it’s a recipe I will keep . I tweaked it a little I roast 1/2 cup unsalted almond chopped them , handful dried cherries , 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips a handful unsweetened coconut I use no salt no sugar no added oil peanut butter , I found one that is chunky and it’s thin it’s called Richard’s . If you use a thicker peanut butter you can’t cook it for 3 minutes it sticks at the bottom of the pan . I also add 2 more table spoons of peanut butter because I added more ingredients .I wait 15 minutes than I add the cool peanut butter/ maple syrup mix so my chocolate doesn’t melt ….it’s the best a very nice recipe that you can adjust to your own taste . It’s so good that when I start eating it I just can’t stop.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the feedback, your version sounds delicious! Crazy Richard’s is one of my favorite PB brands. I always use natural peanut butter with nothing added and that’s what I always recommend using. Enjoy!!
Hi, i have been looking for something like this. Do you think using sugar free syrup would work ok?
Hi Carol, I haven’t tested it with that so unfortunately, I can’t confidently recommend it. My concern would be that the maple syrup helps everything stick together, so they may be more crumbly, but should still taste good. Hope this helps!
Hi there, we have tried to make these a few times, but can’t seem to get the measurements right. For the rice puffs, many grams is 2 1/2 cup please? The online converters yields so many different answers, and I always end up having to make lots of extra chocolate/peanut butter mix. Can’t wait to get these right as it looks like such a lovely recipe!! Thank you in advance. Lise x
Hi Lise, you’ll want to check the side of the box to see how much your specific brand weighs! It may be helpful for you to add the rice puffs slowly to the peanut butter mixture until you get the consistency you’re after. Hope this helps!
Hi Rachel and thanks for the recipes,
I just wanted to mention a quibble about terminology in the No-Bake Bars recipe. In commercial terms, puffed rice is not crisp. It is chewy and soft. Crisped rice is what one should be using in this recipe. There are a few brands of crisped rice that are gluten free other than Rice Crispies, which is flavored with malt, a gluten-bearing product made from barley. Any of them would work, although I don’t prefer the crisped brown rice brand, as it doesn’t have much flavor.
Good to know! Thanks for sharing this detail, Pippin!
Addendum to my comment above. I believe LJ used “puffed rice” cereal and that is why they were chewy and soft. Manufacturers do not call crispy rice “puffed”. That is an entirely different animal, as it were.